US President Donald Trump issues executive orders taking effect in forty-five days that ban "transactions" with Chinese owners of TikTok (ByteDance) and WeChat (Tencent)
Looking for more details about this now, but depending on how this gets interpreted, banning transactions with Tencent could have a massive impact. Tencent owns some or all of a lot of companies...
Looking for more details about this now, but depending on how this gets interpreted, banning transactions with Tencent could have a massive impact. Tencent owns some or all of a lot of companies beyond WeChat, including large stakes in many major video game and tech companies.
The WeChat order specifically says, in Section 1 (emphasis mine):
(a) The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law: any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd.
So it seems like it shouldn't affect anything outside of WeChat and the related apps, but is still unclear overall.
Here's a diff between the two orders, if anyone else is curious about the specific changes. I used the TikTok/ByteDance order as the "original", so removals and additions are relative to changing that one into the WeChat/Tencent one.
What I really fear is that this starts a retaliatory tit-for-tat battle between the US and China. If China starts banning, say, Apple or Google or Facebook's Chinese operations, now that would...
What I really fear is that this starts a retaliatory tit-for-tat battle between the US and China. If China starts banning, say, Apple or Google or Facebook's Chinese operations, now that would take the stock market down.
It would be an economic disaster at the worst possible time.
Google and Facebook already have effectively nothing going on in China. As distasteful as I find the mechanism, this executive order is leveling the tech playing field.
Google and Facebook already have effectively nothing going on in China. As distasteful as I find the mechanism, this executive order is leveling the tech playing field.
Google and Facebook may be a bad example, but @stu2b50's point stands that China can negatively impact American economy by targetting American companies. What? How?
Google and Facebook may be a bad example, but @stu2b50's point stands that China can negatively impact American economy by targetting American companies.
this executive order is leveling the tech playing field.
This is... already the case. They've been doing this for decades. Which is what I'm saying - America changing the rules for Chinese companies is merely reciprocal treatment. Again, I think this...
China can negatively impact American economy by targetting American companies.
This is... already the case. They've been doing this for decades. Which is what I'm saying - America changing the rules for Chinese companies is merely reciprocal treatment.
Again, I think this (arbitrary executive order) is the wrong way to go about it. But I'm not blind to China's policies either.
Looking for more details about this now, but depending on how this gets interpreted, banning transactions with Tencent could have a massive impact. Tencent owns some or all of a lot of companies beyond WeChat, including large stakes in many major video game and tech companies.
Edit: here are the actual Executive Orders:
The WeChat order specifically says, in Section 1 (emphasis mine):
So it seems like it shouldn't affect anything outside of WeChat and the related apps, but is still unclear overall.
Here's a diff between the two orders, if anyone else is curious about the specific changes. I used the TikTok/ByteDance order as the "original", so removals and additions are relative to changing that one into the WeChat/Tencent one.
What I really fear is that this starts a retaliatory tit-for-tat battle between the US and China. If China starts banning, say, Apple or Google or Facebook's Chinese operations, now that would take the stock market down.
It would be an economic disaster at the worst possible time.
Google and Facebook already have effectively nothing going on in China. As distasteful as I find the mechanism, this executive order is leveling the tech playing field.
Google and Facebook may be a bad example, but @stu2b50's point stands that China can negatively impact American economy by targetting American companies.
What? How?
This is... already the case. They've been doing this for decades. Which is what I'm saying - America changing the rules for Chinese companies is merely reciprocal treatment.
Again, I think this (arbitrary executive order) is the wrong way to go about it. But I'm not blind to China's policies either.
Majority Chinese ownership rules and massive systemic IP infringements seem like the two most obvious ones.
An obvious question is whether this is legal. The executive order cites some laws, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow and see what some lawyers say.
TikTok's official statement: Statement on the Administration's Executive Order
I don't see a statement from Tencent/WeChat yet.
I hope Epic and Riot stay safe.